A Su-27 fighter jet successfully intercepted a US RQ-4B Global Hawk surveillance drone over the Black Sea.
The incident comes as Russia enforces strict no-fly zones in its territorial airspace, preventing Western aircraft from entering.
US surveillance drone forced to stay away
The Russian state news agency TASS quoted Russian military officials that a US drone was averted from entering its airspace.
The Russian Defense Ministry statement said, “A Su-27 fighter jet was scrambled to prevent it (US surveillance drone) from entering Russian airspace”.
Russian jet and US drone encounters have increased
Encounters between the Russian Air Force and the US drones have increased in the past few years.
In July, two Russian fighter jets fired flares at US drones operating over Syria. In March this year, a Russian Su-27 fighter forced an American MQ-9 Reaper drone to land far away from the black sea.
